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| Saint Teresa of Calcutta did not rest when the world thirsted for love. |
[ Today's Readings ]
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Sometimes we must show that love takes priority even over rest. This is scandalous to the Pharisees. It makes them feel guilty because they know that there is a sort of work that takes precedence even over the rest commanded by heaven. If we are using religious precepts to justify inaction or indifference we need to examine them more closely. Chances are we are misusing them.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Yet we do try to bring the old leaven back to the feast anyway. In the past people had to rely on the letter of the law. They did not have the Spirit to guide them. They needed rigid rules because the Spirit of love did not live in their hearts. His guidance was not directly available to them. But without the Spirit that old law is not enough. We abuse it like the Pharisees. We twist it for our own selfish ends. Instead of the malice and wickedness of the old we need the sincerity and truth by which the Spirit of God lives and acts in our hearts. If we let him reign in our hearts we will know that to love is always the correct choice whether or not it is the Sabbath. The answer is always love.
But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.
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